


of whispers in the dark and visions of a golden sunrise

by Smiley5494



Series: of kings and magic, Merlin and Arthur [7]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Awesome Gwen (Merlin), Court Sorcerer Merlin (Merlin), Day 7, Day 7: Free day + Magic reveal, F/F, Fairy Tale Elements, Fairy Tale Style, Good Morgana (Merlin), King Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), M/M, Merlin's Magic Revealed (Merlin), Merthur Week 2020, Morgana's Magic Revealed (Merlin), Prose Poem, Storytelling, this isn't mentioned but its important to me that you know that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:41:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28336356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Smiley5494/pseuds/Smiley5494
Summary: Day 7: Free day + Magic revealLook and listen,they say,watch and learn. Time passes, and with it comes the lessons you wish you had foretold.
Relationships: Gwen/Morgana (Merlin), Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Series: of kings and magic, Merlin and Arthur [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2069175
Comments: 10
Kudos: 53
Collections: Merthur Week 2020





	of whispers in the dark and visions of a golden sunrise

There are stories that are told only at night. Told under the cover of darkness and shadows, the only light artificially created. Those stories are often scary, horrifying, featuring monsters and creatures, life and death.

It is not only the temperature chilling the listeners to the bone.

 _Look and listen,_ they say, _watch and wait. Time passes, and with it comes the howls of men and monsters and those who are both._

There are prophecies that are told as stories—a veil of fantasy makes harsh truths easier to swallow. These stories are not stories entirely, and their audience knows this; they study and preach the stories, and after time passes they come to fruition.

Some are only obvious after they have already happened.

 _Look and listen,_ they say, _watch and learn. Time passes, and with it comes the lessons you wish you had foretold._

There are stories that last for several millennia. Stories of heroes and stories of villains, and stories of those stuck in between. These are the stories that are told to children, visions of hope, a ray of light piercing the darkness.

Some feature a golden king and a hidden sorcerer.

 _Look and listen,_ they say, _watch and love. Time passes, and with it comes the sort of change that one craves._

The stories of Merlin and Arthur are popular ones, stories of hope, and of acceptance. It is one told in the dark, a prophecy that is only whispered of—

_Emrys and the Once and Future King_

—a story that would become a legend. A vision of love, of two opposites becoming one, of a servant falling in love with his king, facing the threat of execution every day and laughing in the face of Death.

* * *

When Merlin is banished there are whispers in the streets of revolution. The people love him, the people know him, and the reveal of his magic is met with shock and fear. They don’t want him to die, they don’t want him to leave, they want him to stay—and if that includes magic, then so be it.

When Merlin returns the whispers of rebellion die out replaced by whispers of a tender romance, two sides of the same coin loving and relying on each other. They have given themselves entirely over to each other their paths are intertwined and their faith is unimaginable.

The king legalises magic and Merlin is promoted.

_The people cheer because here is a royal who will listen to them and learn what it is to be respected and loved._

There are whispers of an apprentice, of a lady born and raised in nobility—the daughter of a king. Lady Morgana’s name is thrown around, and her talent as a seer is unparalleled. She is well-liked, her words were wasted on the Butcher King but the people heard and they loved her for them, and her marriage to Guinevere of the lower town, the daughter of a blacksmith, is met with only the best of reactions.

When the whispers of the apprentice are proven to be true the story only grows.

The wedding of two very different kings—

_one of magic, one of men_

—is planned and attended by thousands.

The stories are told to children who will never fear for their lives. Children who will be raised on the glories of a golden sunrise and never fear the shadows in the eyes of men.

_there is poison in the smiles of men with greed in their hearts, who wield too much power for one so insignificant in the grand scheme of things_

The stories can be told openly and people smile when they recognise the words for even in the darkest of nights, stories are a tale of love and they can never be truly extinguished.

The legends expand to include the Round Table; Sirs Leon, Elyan, Percival, Gwaine, and Lancelot; the Court Physician Gaius; the undisputed and deserving queen of the people Guinevere; the court sorcerer’s apprentice Morgana. There are lies among the truth, but they are far and few in between—harmless and kind, not the sort of lie needed to be disputed.

The stories become a legend, growing and shifting, ever-changing, remembered for millennia and more.

 _Look and listen,_ they say, _watch and smile. Time passes, and the legend only grows—here is a court who will keep the magic alive._


End file.
